Columbus, Ohio -- March 11, 1998 -- Ohio legislators often need to learn about an issue quickly. It's up to their legislative aides to sort through mounds of research material and get the necessary information back to them in an efficient and timely manner. Finding that information is a little easier these days thanks to the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC), Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK), and the State Library of Ohio.

On March 16, legislative aides will receive hands-on training in using OhioLINK, the state's higher education library initiative. Accessing more than 1200 newspapers, magazines, and journals; using ERIC, an education-related research database; and learning about more than 60 other on-line databases are highlights of the one-hour training sessions.

Showing aides how to find information faster is key to the session. Each day, legislative aides receive requests to find materials on everything from drunk driving to school funding. OhioLINK provides rapid access to on-line information through its research databases, and by making the library holdings at the State Library of Ohio and the majority of the state's colleges and universities available on-line. Much of this information is stored on OSC's high-performance mass storage system. Aides access the information through OSC's networking program. This means that an aide can get the newspaper or journal article they need for those last minute meetings by using her office computer and not running to the library.